ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions have lost control of their own playoff destiny, but that doesn't mean the team still can't find its way into the postseason.

The scenario is simple. Detroit has to win its final two games -- at home against New York and on the road in Minnesota.

Additionally, the Lions need Green Bay and Chicago to each lose one of their two remaining games. They play each other in the final game of the regular season, so one or both need to fall this week.

Green Bay hosts Pittsburgh and Chicago travels to Philadelphia. Both are far from locks.

So despite everything that's gone on in recent weeks, the Lions need to stay focused. Because if they finish strong and the chips fall the right way, Detroit could still win the division and host a playoff game at Ford Field.

Welcome back to MLive.com's weekly feature. In advance of each game, we will identify Detroit's "Issue of the Week" and give our insight as to how it might play out.

We welcome feedback from you, the reader, with some of the best comments slated to be used in an item later this week.

JUSTIN ROGERS
The homeless man that heckled Nate Burleson was the voice of a frustrated fan base.

The Lions had raised the city's hopes with a 6-3 start. With injuries mounting in Green Bay and Chicago, Detroit was supposed to waltz to its first division title in 20 years.

But the golden opportunity was fumbled away with losses in four of the past five games.

Now the Lions have to deal with the boos flooding Ford Field, the vitriol on sports talk radio and the daily questions about whether coach Jim Schwartz gets the ax at season's end.

The Lions brought this on themselves, but all is not lost. As Schwartz has pointed out several times recently, the Ravens lost four of their last five games in 2012, only to make an improbable Super Bowl run.

You just have to make the playoffs.

There are going to be plenty of distractions over the final two weeks. Everyone doubts this team and its coaching staff, and rightfully so. They've done nothing to merit confidence. But every player, every coach, has to drown out the criticism and focus on the task at hand. Win the final two, and maybe, just maybe you get a shot at redemption.

KYLE MEINKE
The Lions have flushed their season with a fury of drops, turnovers and interceptions. A second consecutive collapse officially is upon us, after four losses in five games, and it has cost Detroit its division lead.

The season is imperiled, and the only thing Detroit can do -- pardon the coachspeak here -- is win its last two games. That's all that's left.

Everything is going to get chaotic around the team, from the boos raining down at Ford Field, to the speculation in the locker room about whether Jim Schwartz will be fired. That's heady stuff.

The Lions' fate isn't written, though. They're longshots to make the postseason, but you can't get lucky if you don't at least take care of business.

Do that, you've at least got a shot. And that's all the Lions can hope for.